2. Family Guy
• Family Guy is a family sitcom but with a dysfunctional twist.
The characters are counter-typical stereotypes.
• In a typical family sitcom, the story revolves around a
nuclear family comprised of a husband, wife, and a couple of
children. The story for each episode is stand-alone, and is
most commonly about the family's mishappenings with each
other, their friends, or neighbours.
• In the end, the problem is solved and the family live on
happily. This is the typical narrative structure of Family Guy.
3. Intertextual references
• The series is full of intertextual references.
• The Family Guy creator, Seth MacFarlane, based some of his
characters on previous animations:
• Brian Griffin looks similar to the famous cartoon dog character
Snoopy: White fur, Black nose, participates in human activities,
Stewie has a striking resemblance to the 1991 comic-strip character
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Football-shape head, dislike
towards mother, intelligent, etc.
• This humour can only be found funny if the audience is well tuned with
media texts such as these. Family Guy is constantly using references
from other shows and movies and the internet. Many understand the
intertextuality because they are so "media savvy."
4. Intertextual
• The series also demonstrates the idea that
'Postmodernism will eat itself', as a lot of what
is featured is just regurgitated pop culture.
• Every type of media text that is popular is
covered, TV, film, and online digital media.
• Family Guy is postmodern by always having
references from other popular media texts
and makes fun of itself whenever it can.
5. The Show and Title
• Even the main idea of the show is a
reference to the very popular television
genre; the family sitcom.
• The title 'Family Guy' is said to be a
reference to the popular television culture
of family sitcoms.
6. Title theme tune
• Its introduction theme tune is parodying modern
television.
• "It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and
sex on TV...... where are those good old fashion values on
which we used to rely? ... Lucky there’s a Family Guy."
• The audience know that although the Family Guy
voiceover is saying that its series will show family values,
we know that it is going to be the complete opposite,
therefore it is parodying its own role as promoting
sensible family entertainment.
7. Borrowing from ‘The
Simpsons’
• It is speculated that Family Guy is a copy of the famous sit-
com cartoon The Simpsons: the family consists of the
typical nuclear family: father, mother, son, daughter and a
baby child.
• They also live in the same type of neighbourhood,
Spooner Street, Quahog for Family Guy and
Evergreen Terrace, Springfield
for The
Simpsons.
• Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson are also very similar
characters with both of them being dim-witted and clumsy.
8. Pastiche
• Pastiche is the borrowing of something used before and re-using it in
another context without changing it too much.
• Family Guy contains a pastiche of Star Wars, Grease, and other TV / films.
• With pastiche, the past is reworked - Star Wars was a very popular TV
series and film(s) from the 70s and 80s. Both are famous today and still
popular which is why it is easily understood and appreciated in Family Guy.
The series combines pastiche with parody. It isn't making reference to Star
Wars in a negative way, only a positive one - the films and TV series were
popular and still are.
• It’s used to enjoy other TV series/ films, to pay homage to them, for
humour, and to reward cultural capital.
9. Confusion of Time and
Space
• There are particular episodes in which time and space is used to create
confusion.
• One shows Stewie and Brian in a ‘Disney universe’, Peter and Lois in the
‘Flintstone universe’ and ‘Road to the Multiverse’. There is also an episode
in which characters travel to the future and one where they go back to
Nazi Germany.
• The idea of parallel universes is used to create confusion in where the
characters are as it is set in a different universe, and set in the future. The
characters travel from one parallel dimension to another. In each one, to
comedic effect, they meet different versions of themselves. This is portrayed
in a very playful way. Its also an intertextual reference to the Flinstones
cartoon.
• The reason it is post modern is that it rewards cultural capital if you
recognise the references from the past, its playful, and humorous.
10. A non linear narrative
• The episodes follow a non linear narrative.
• In each episode there are at least 3 flash backs to when
something happened. This usually happens when a character
says a line similar to “this is worse than the time…”
• After this line there is a flashback to a bizarre unrealistic
situation, used just for the comedy value.
• A non linear narrative is often used as its a common feature in
post modern media to be playful with the chronology of
events. Po mo does it because it can and it also reminds you
about the process of production - its just TV, its not reality
11. The decline of the grand
narrative.
• These are concepts which describe progress and a belief
system, for example; Christianity, Science, Buddhism, etc.
• Post modernism highlights the decline in these values.
• Grand narratives are constantly open to criticism in Family
Guy. For Example: Jesus Comes To Dinner and God pulling.
• Here Family Guy is exploring the death of the grand Narrative
in terms of Christianity and is making humour out of it. This is
an example of the decline of the grand Narrative.
• This is done for humourous purposes and is a bit of an ‘in-
joke’, so you feel you get it alongside others.
12. Playfulness with Realism.
• In many ways, Family Guy conforms to a conventional
family sit-com and the environment is realistic - similar to
other family sit-coms, eg. My Family.
• But, there are parts of the series which are
unconventionally unrealistic, for example an intelligent
baby, a talking dog and other characters like Jesus, Death
and God.
• In the series, though, these characters are accepted as if
they were everyday citizens.
• The reason its done is its humourous.
13. Conclusion - why is Family
Guy post modern?
• Intertextuality
• Borrowing or appropriation
• Pastiche
• Parody
• Confusion over Time and Space
• A non linear narrative
• Decline of the grand narrative
• Playfulness with realism
14. Homework
• Evaluate what elements of Family Guy are
post modern and explain in detail how
specific examples from the series can be
described as post modern.
• Please try and explain why the audience gets
pleasure from the post modern techniques
used in the series.
• 800-1000 words due for Friday.
